Whereas most teams appear to hit a brick wall inside their opponent's 20, the Texans have run into a wall closer to the 30- and 40-yard lines.

In the Texans' first three games, they crossed midfield only 12 times and failed to score on eight of the trips. On seven of those non-scoring drives, the Texans went backward because of sacks or penalties. The other time, Carr threw an interception.

Few and far between

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The Texans got beyond the 30-yard line once in those eight empty possessions. Four times, they failed to reach the 40.

"It's just a matter of making one more play, one more first down," left guard Chester Pitts said. "And that's something we have to continue to work on."

While the offense is struggling in the red zone this year, the Texans' defense has made major strides. Last year, they ranked 19th in the NFL, allowing opponents to score touchdowns 56.8 percent of the time. This year, the Texans are sixth, limiting opponents to five touchdowns in 14 red-zone possessions (35.7).

If the Texans' defense continues at that pace, it could lead the league by the end of the season. Last year, Jacksonville's defense was the NFL's best inside the red zone, allowing touchdowns 38.3 percent of the time.

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To win games, however, the Texans' offense realizes it must make some adjustments. The struggle to reach the red zone has hurt Houston in all three games, especially in the close loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the score was tied at 10. The Texans moved the ball across midfield, but on second-and-eight at the 42, Carr was sacked for an 11-yard loss. On the next play, the Texans were penalized five yards for a false start. Carr was then sacked again for minus-17 yards, which left the Texans with fourth-and-41 at their own 25-yard line.

Headed south

"That was a key turning point in the game," coach
Dom Capers
said. "We're sitting there, it's a 10-10 game, and our goal was to get the game into the fourth quarter and find a way to make plays to finish the game off.

"We're there. We're one first down away from being able to line up and kick a field goal and go up 13-10. That's when we shot ourselves in the foot."

That's hardly been an isolated incident. In the first quarter of the Bengals game, the Texans faced a first-and-10 at the Bengals' 30. Two incomplete passes, two penalties and one sack later, the Texans punted on fourth-and-20 from Cincinnati's 40.

The Texans' offense also had problems reaching the red zone last season, ranking 19th with 44 red zone possessions. When they reached the red zone, however, the Texans were one of the league's best at capitalizing.

On the 44 possessions, the Texans scored 26 TDs (59.1 percent, sixth in the league).

"We've executed," offensive coordinator Joe Pendry said. "That's probably the same answer for any place on the field. If you execute your plan and what you have, you probably have a good chance of being successful, and we've executed down there.

"It's very good to see it. We just want to be there more often and get more shots at it."

Texans summary

More from Mathis

Expect rookie
Jerome Mathis
to see more action at receiver against the Titans. Active for the first time in the 16-10 loss to the Bengals, Mathis returned five kickoffs for a 26-yard average.

"As we go along, you're going to see Jerome become more and more involved on both special teams and offense," coach Dom Capers said. "He's got speed and playmaking ability. There's no question that we've got to find a way to mix a big play or two in there. That's the way you score points."

Mathis didn't line up at receiver much during the Cincinnati game, but quarterback David Carr said the Bengals paid attention each time they saw No. 13 line up.

"He's a cover-2 magnet," Carr said. "They get safeties over there on him real quick when he's out there. His reputation for getting down the field has already spread."

Gaffney steps up

Receiver
Jabar Gaffney
started against the Bengals and had six catches for 88 yards, both team highs. He'll continue to rotate with
Corey Bradford
.

"He made plays," coach Dom Capers said. "I think you'll see more rotation at receiver. We had five receivers active. ... In terms of who's the starter, that's not a big deal when you look at the number of plays they play. I think Jabar and Corey played fairly close to the same number of plays. But there's no question he (Gaffney) made plays, and guys that make plays are going to play."

Taking nothing away

The Texans' defense was bothered by its inability to force a turnover in the first two games, but it didn't panic. Turnovers happen. The players figured their time would come.

Now that the streak of games without a turnover has been stretched to three, the problem is nagging the players more and more. Every other team in the league has forced at least one turnover. The Cincinnati Bengals lead the league with 17 takeaways.

"It's one of those things. We've caused some fumbles and had some bad passes we could have come up with," nose tackle Seth Payne said. "These things tend to go in streaks, but three games have taken it a little far."